It's not a bad idea to drain the tank periodically, although most of us don't. What concerns me is that apparently there is no drain in the basement. If you ever had a broken pipe, your basement will convert to a swimming pool! My guess is that there are drain pipes and I would hope at or below floor level. I'd explore that and if you find there are pipes going into the floor, then have a floor drain installed. There is no magic in making water flow up. Pump or bucket. A siphon would work if you could get the outlet end of the hose below the level of the basement floor, but applying the suction to start the siphon might be very difficult, especially if the length is very long.